Health

Mycobacterial lymphadenitis associated with the initiation of combination antiretroviral therapy

Article Abstract:

Combination antiretroviral drug therapy for HIV infection may be associated with inflammatory lymph node swelling from mycobacterial infection. Researchers reviewed 52 cases of lymphadenitis, 12 of which occurred within weeks of the initiation of combination therapy. High CD4 white blood cell levels, higher hemoglobin levels, and the development of a draining sinus were more common in patients who developed mycobacterial lymphadenitis within weeks of treatment. Restoration of immune competence with combination drug therapy may have initiated an effective immune response to a quiescent mycobacterial infection, producing the lymph swelling.

Many South Koreans infected with HIV may carry a unique strain of the virus which has not been identified elsewhere. Researchers analyzed HIV from 46 infected patients in South Korea. The viruses were of four distinct subtypes, but 35 patients were infected with a viral type of a unique genetic sequence. The variations were in the nef sequence, a genetic region which is less variable and may be related to disease progression and viral growth. HIV in South Korea may have developed from only a few initial sources or in ways unique to the Korean population.